Montessori or ESF K1 as a stepping stone?

jolalee

[This is a repost of my previous thread, which I think I've made a wrong title for. Apologies!]

I have or is planning to apply for my currently 2 years old son the following schools:
HKIS, CIS, CDNIS, AISHK & ICS

He will be attending K1 equivalent kindergarten this coming August.
He has several options, but mainly i'm struggling between:

1. The Montessori system [DMS Discovery Bay]
2. The ESF system [ESF Tsing Yi]

I wonder which school can better prepare him for the reception application / interview (both in terms of the schools' reputation and the actually learning)? Any comment or suggestion is deeply appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Radiomama

I would say "home learning" and whole person building is much more important.
Besides your dream schools would offer their primary place to their own kindies' pupils. Please prepare a plan B for your kid.

Shrimpiggy

where do you live? I think you need to consider how long your kid travel everyday. travelling will affect the kids learning ability.

jolalee

Radiomama, I've actually applied or is applying for their kindies, but since my boy is November born, some schools accept him into K1 or equivalent this year (ie. ESF) whereas many of the target schools will accept him only next year. Furthermore, some IS do not take students until they are 4, so that's K2 equivalent (and to make things more complicated they all call them differently: "reception" could be K2 in one school but K3 in another etc). I have called to ask and some say that they do expect the applicants to have some form of formal education already ("and please mail in his reports/reference letters when they become available"). Things like classroom social interactions cannot be easily practiced at home or at a freestyled playroom/playground, so that one year (or more) at another Kindie is not trivial.

From my own analysis, my child would learn much more academically in a Montessori setting, as well as discipline. ESF is much more free and fun, but hopefully socially he would learn more. Personally I prefer the Montessori education, but ESF K1 starting Aug 2013 will have the final year of ESF P1 interview priority, which is part of my plan B (along with YCIS and a few others). If I am crazy enough, I would put him in both schools (one AM class and the other PM class), but that'd probably quench the love of learning out of him...

jolalee

回復 Shrimpiggy 的帖子

We live in Tung Chung, and both schools in question are about 1/2 hour door to door from our place, which is the ideal maximum travel time for Kindie aged kids. He actually has been attending the Montessori playgroup in DB twice a week since he was 12 months old, and is quite familiar with the environment. [and is currently there 3 times a week at 27 months of age]

shadeslayer

原帖由 jolalee 於 13-02-24 發表
回復 Shrimpiggy 的帖子

We live in Tung Chung, and both schools in question are about 1/2 hour door  ...

CIS and HKIS are located in island south, long travel time in a year's time.

jolalee

Of course we'll be moving in that case. The advantage of living soooo far away right now is that I can consider CDNIS & AISHK on equal footing regardless of location, since we'll be moving anyhow.

elmostoney

CIS is in the mid-levels of North Point, not island south.

Shrimpiggy

hi Jolalee,  it is a hard discussion but we have to apply all. it is not uncommon in this form the parents failed their expectation as they applied for only one or two.
Also it is too later for debenture for  both HKIS, CDNIS require 5-7yrs on subscription waiting list.
also, it is not the same as  taking pubic examinations that you can retake next year. if one can't get into the school at the first year, it is harder to get into the higher grades as the turnover is low.
Be realistic as both you and the schools are selecting and being selected.

Shrimpiggy

sorry that I detracked again, I should say both schools are good. no one can answer this question without doubts.

jolalee

回復 Shrimpiggy 的帖子

Thank you Shrimpiggy and all parents here who made the effort to help analyze the situation. I can tell some of you really put your heart and mind to it, and given it'd require the understanding of both ESF and montessori systems as well as the entrance requirements for each target school, I'd say no one parent can solve this alone, and every tidbit you put forward here does add to the big picture. Please accept my heartfelt appreciation!

Yes, i think any parent who's been researching a bit knows how difficult it is and must apply for several schools. Actually the list I have here is only a partial list (there's a few more backup schools but those listed here are the main targets). As for debentures, I know ppl who works in CIS admin and they are still dealing with requests from TEN years ago!...

Anyhow although my son passed the ESF assessment, he is still on the wait list due to the sheer amount of applications this year, so most probably he will stay at Montessori, but if a place becomes available at ESF Tsing Yi, then i have no idea how i should choose....

21Ckid

What are the characteristics of montessori compared to the conventional approach, and what are the pluses and minuses? what type of kids are suitable and who are not?

jolalee

maggieho_1218 發表於 13-2-25 19:24
It is very difficult to make a decision like this.  Both of them r really good schools and it seems  ...

I already know that my son would prefer ESF, but that doesn't mean it's better for him (just like he'd prefer ice-cream over rice, hands down). The ESF environment is very free. In fact, they have 1 hour of 'studio time' each day, where 88 kids from the entire grade mixes and play together, with minimal supervision. It's a survival of the fittest kind of situation. Knowing my son, he will learn and turn into a bully.
At the moment he is used to Montessori; i wouldn't say he loves it, but he learned to cope. He learned a lot there, but perhaps it does not entice his creative side (he is very very creative and a bit unrestrained at work). If i have a choice, i do hope he'd get into one of the schools i listed here.

As to independence, he has no problem in that area. His weakness is self-restrain and emotional control, which i am working on with him right now...

elmostoney

other than AISHK which I don't know much about admission rate, all the other schools you listed are very tough to get into.  CIS has 88 openings, half of which goes to people with connection (e.g. sibling, alumni's kids, perhaps staff's children, people with corporate debenture, etc.).  lately, I have heard that if you are Chinese, they prefer to take those who has better Putonghua instead of Cantonese.

I think you need to research more to have a back up plan.  It is not unusual that a child couldn't get into any of the schools on your list.

jolalee

回復 elmostoney 的帖子

That's why it's so hard to let go of the ESF opportunity with the final year of P1 interview priority...Again, i like Montessori personally, but where could he go after K3 if no good primary school accept him?

mister

I would go for ESF if I were you. As others already pointed out that it's not easy to get into your target schools, you have to have plan B with consideration of his primary school education too.

Actually I am not familiar with Montessori at all, but since you like it a lot, and is okay to move, would you consider train through school like IMS etc with         primary school as back up ?

elmostoney

I am not too familiar with the new ESF policy, but is it true that children from ESF kindgarten no longer has priority in primary school interviews?  You'd better check this out first.

英基收生優先面試次序

1.全職教職員的子女
2.有兄弟姊妹正就讀英基中、小學或賽馬會善樂學校
3.持有英基50萬元提名權
4.曾就讀英基3年或以上的舊生的子女
5.其他需要以英語教學的學童
註：新制度今年8月生效，正就讀英基國際幼稚園或今年8月入學的學童不受影響

資料來源：英基學校協會

elmostoney

your school list is basically comprised of the most competitively applied schools.  I think you need to broaden it to include a few other choices.  I have found so many people just "get stuck" once their choices didn't materialize, and the child has no where to go but to go with LS.

jolalee

mister 發表於 13-2-26 11:47
I would go for ESF if I were you. As others already pointed out that it's not easy to get into your  ...

We applied for IMS but i am sure my son flunk the interview. He just recovered from a fever that day and was running around like a bullet train. They were supposed to complete tasks at at least 2 stations but i only saw him at 1, so that was that. we shall try again next year... (since he was born in November, so he can be considered a 'small B' this year and a 'big B' next year).